A sunspot! Cycle 24 is finally here!
Our long drought without a sunspot appears to be over.
In case you don’t follow space weather conditions, August marked the first calendar month completed without a single sunspot since 1913. This long streak of days without a sunspot made for some poor HF (high frequency radio) propagation conditions. While it was certainly possible to work DX (make long distance contacts) using HF radio without sunspots - your probability of a successful “QSO” was greatly reduced.
The HamLinks Ham Radio Toolbar just updated its radio propagation data to show:
A:3 K:0 SF:67 SS:12
That “SS:12″ means a “sunspot number” of 12… This sunspot number value is a calculated number that takes into account several variables - but it does indicate that there is at least one spot on ole Sol.
It’s only one small spot - but it is an indication that cycle 24 is finally here. Some had argued that the cycle had already hit bottom, but it’s nice to see this particular run of sunspot-free days come to an end.
Whew! It’s about time.
. .
It was equatorial and I think more likely late 23 rather than early 24.
Unfortunately, this was a cycle 23 spot.
Drat.
Don’t tease us, man…
Oddly enough, I found your site by following a link on Wikipedia’s article about… Sunspots.